Author: mamajbirdy

It has been cloudy + rainy for over a week now, so it’s been bumming us out a bit! Today we decided to pick some apples and get out of the house for some genuine fresh air. Every time I come to this farm, I feel so at peace. Something about nature and the physical act of grabbing a fresh apple from a tree connects with me spiritually.

“Everywhere I go, I keep falling in love with the trees and wanting to stay just a little bit longer” ~AVA

One of the things that completely freaked me out was doing my first head to toe assessment on a real patient. Now, most of my classmates already work in the health field as LPNs or NAs so this was no biggie for them; but for me, the closest I have ever been in that situation is 1) me being the actual patient and 2) when I worked the front desk at an OB/GYN office for a little while.

So for me, this was a really big scary task. Although I felt prepared (I’m almost finished with my What To Bring On You First Clinical Shift – so I will link it here when it’s posted), there was one area in which I felt I could have been better prepared: I didn’t have the right assessment tool sheet that worked for me. I found all different types and examples on the web, from super simple to extremely detailed, but this specific one (which I rewrote and adapted to my needs) is what really helped me during my first semester of clinicals. This is what I would suggest starting with and then adapting it to fit your style. It’s pretty basic, but it includes a generalized overview of the systems.

I do have a more extensive one I now use and will upload that in the future 🙂

So your first night of clinicals is here! Yay! You’re probably feeling a mix of emotions – anxious, excited, maybe even a little scared. Maybe this is your first time being a part of a healthcare team. It’s OK to be all those things; in fact, it’s totally normal. Continue reading “What To Bring To Your First Nursing Clinical”→